The interpretation timeline

Ps 49:22

How this passage has been read — the sources, oldest to newest.

From the early Church Fathers to now.

2 Patristic · 2 Catholic · 1 Reformed · 1 Lutheran

Ps 49:22 · Douay-Rheims
“Understand these things, you that forget God; lest he snatch you away, and there be none to deliver you.”
Patristic before A.D. 750
430
A.D.
Augustine of Hippo Patristic
A.D. 354–430
“But, "understand these things, ye that forget God" (ver. 22). See how He crieth, and keepeth not silence, spareth not. Thou hadst forgotten the Lord, didst not think of thy evil life. Perceive how thou hast forgotten the Lord. "Lest at length He seize like a lion, and there be none to deliver." What is "like a lion"? Like a brave one, like a mighty one, like him whom none can withstand. To this he made reference when he said, "Lion." For it is used for praise, it is used also for showing evil. The devil hath been called lion: "Your adversary," He saith, "like a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom He may devour." May it not be that whereas he hath been called lion because of savage fierceness, Christ hath been called Lion for wondrous mightiness? And where is that, "The Lion hath prevailed of the tribe of Judah?" ...”
Source
457
A.D.
Theodoret of Cyrus Patristic
c. A.D. 393–457
“Give careful thought, he is saying, to each of my words; and you who suffer forgetfulness of God—forgetfulness of God being a source of sin—cure your wounds with the remedies of repentance before you are carried off by death, which like a lion falls on human beings, no one capable of checking its fierce assault.”
817 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet
Scholastic c. 1100 – 1500
1274
A.D.
Thomas Aquinas Catholic
1225–1274
“"Understand these things, you who forget God." Here he exhorts sinners to consideration. And first, to considering the severity of God. Second, he shows what is acceptable to God in sacrifices. First, therefore, he exhorts to understanding. Hence he says, "Understand these things, you who forget God," namely, consider the things that have been said. And this is necessary, because you have forgotten God. Dt. 32: "You have forgotten God your creator." Second, what he means by "understand": "Lest he seize you," namely the Devil, "and there be no one to deliver," namely from his power. When the Devil seizes for the punishment of Hell, there is no one who delivers. Sometimes he seizes unto sin, and God delivers the sinner. Ps. 90: "He shall deliver him." That he does not deliver from the power of the Devil unto punishment is not from impotence, but from his justice he does not will it.”
Source
575 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet
Post-Reformation c. 1650 – 1900
1849
A.D.
1774–1849
“Lest he. Hebrew, “I tear you in pieces.” (Protestants) (Haydock) — Rapiat ut Leo. (St. Augustine) — It may be understood of death, (Theodoret) or of God. (Calmet)”
1871
A.D.
1875
A.D.
Keil & Delitzsch Lutheran
1861–1875
“Epilogue of the divine discourse. Under the name שׁכחי אלוהּ are comprehended the decent or honourable whose sanctity relies upon outward works, and those who know better but give way to licentiousness; and they are warned of the final execution of the sentence which they have deserved. In dead works God delighteth not, but whoso offereth thanksgiving (viz., not shelamim-tôda, but the tôda of the heart), he praises Him (Note: In Vedic jag', old Bactrian jaz (whence jag'jas, the primitive word of ἅγιος), the notions of offering and of praising lie one within the other.) and שׂם דּרך. It is unnecessary with Luther, following the lxx, Vulgate, and Syriac versions, to read שׁם. The Talmudic remark אל תקרי ושׂם אלא ושׁם [do not read ושׂם, but ושׁם] assumes ושׂם to be the traditional reading. If we take שׂם דּרך as a thought complete in itself, - which is perfectly possible in a certain sense (vid., Isa 43:19), - then it is best explained according to the Vulgate (qui ordinat viam), with Bצttcher, Maurer, and Hupfeld: viam h. e. recta incedere (legel agere) parans; but the expression is inadequate to express this ethical sense (cf. Pro 4:26), and consequently is also without example. The lxx indicates the correct idea in the rendering καὶ ἐκεῖ ὁδὸς ᾗ δείξω αὐτῷ τὸ σωτήριον Θεοῦ. The ושׂם דוך (designedly not pointed דּרך), which standing entirely by itself has no definite meaning, receives its requisite supplement by means of the attributive clause that follows. Such an one prepares a way along which I will grant to him to see the salvation of Elohim, i.e., along which I will grant him a rapturous vision of the full reality of My salvation. The form יכבּדנני is without example elsewhere. It sounds like the likewise epenthetical יקראנני, Pro 1:28, cf. Pro 8:17, Hos 5:15, and may be understood as an imitation of it as regards sound. יכבּדנני (= יכבּדני) is in the writer's mind as the form out of pause (Ges. ֗58, 4). With Psa 50:23 the Psalm recurs to its central point and climax, Psa 50:14. What Jahve here discourses in a post-Sinaitic appearing, is the very same discourse concerning the worthlessness of dead works and concerning the true will of God that Jesus addresses to the assembled people when He enters upon His ministry. The cycle of the revelation of the Gospel is linked to the cycle of the revelation of the Law by the Sermon on the Mount; this is the point at which both cycles touch.”
Source
Modern · 1953 →

The in-app commentary runs from the Fathers to the early-modern record, then stops — that's where the public-domain sources end, not where the reading does. For the modern reading, follow the sources directly.